Musicians have long been burdened and inconvenienced when moving their musical instrument, music, such as sheet music, and music stand from performance to performance. The ease with which a musician transports the musical equipment differs depending on which instrument, thus size and shape of the musical instrument case, the musician plays. In the case of larger instruments such as guitars, cellos, French horns, tubas, etc., it can be difficult, if not impossible, for a musician to carry all of the equipment in a single trip.
Often, the musical instrument case by itself is heavy, bulky, and difficult to carry even without attempting to also carry a music stand or sheet music. This difficulty is further exacerbated by the fact that often a musician needs to carry items in addition to the musical instrument, music stand, and sheet music. It would be beneficial to the musician if the musical instrument, sheet music, and music stand could be integrated into a single unit that could be carried using one hand, thus freeing up the musician's other hand to carry additional items or open doors, etc.
To reduce some of the problems associated with carrying musical equipment, carriers have been designed to include straps that surround a music stand. One such carrier is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,535,922, issued to Yarnold. Although the carrier disclosed in Yarnold helps a musician carry music stands, it does not allow a musician to combine the musical instrument, musical stand, and sheet music into a single unit. The Yarnold carrier also has a stiff support brace and is fairly bulky, thus adding to the amount of equipment the musician must carry.
It would be beneficial to musicians to have a carrier that would allow the musical instrument case, music stand, and sheet music to be combined into a single unit. One of the goals of the present invention is to provide such a carrier.